From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishfall down phrasal verb1 be falling downCONDITION/STATE OF something if a building is falling down, it is in very bad condition The bridge is falling down and will need a million dollars to repair it.2 FAILto fail because of a particular reason or in a particular way That’s where the whole argument falls down. on He is falling down on the supervisory aspects of his job. The local authority is falling down on the job of keeping the streets clean. → fall→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
be falling down• The house is falling down around our ears.• It is not that they are falling down drunk at. 08.• They liked us at first because they thought we would like be falling down glad to have them as neighbors.• Her nappy was so wet it was falling down her legs.• Technically he is excellent but you have noticed that he is falling down on the supervisory aspects of his job.• The attorney general is supposed to act only when the law enforcement is falling down or broken down in a local community.• Something, or some one, was falling down the hillside.• There was a long pause, then, before it observed that some-thing was falling down toward it from the orbiting ship.fall on• Memories fell down on her like stones.• He stopped a little way away from me and fell down on the grass and hid his face in his arms.• She fell down on the mattress and went instantly to death.• On her second visit, Oliver fell down on the path and grazed his knee.• He falls down on the sand.• To fall down on the sofa and tear off her clothes and beg him to make wild, abandoned love to her.• Technically he is excellent but you have noticed that he is falling down on the supervisory aspects of his job.• This is not a book about what to do when the sky falls down on us as parents. 